Articles by William Bunting

On Being Different

As Taoists, we invite
ourselves to be different. The Taoist sage does not explain himself to
anyone. The sage's motives, values, beliefs, and mores are his own, and he
is infallibly and naturally true to what it is his nature to be. This
principle guides his every word, thought and deed so that no matter what the
circumstance, the sage prevails with equanimity, peace, compassion, wisdom
and grace. The enlightened person knows the nature of his own heart, and
follows that nature. This wisdom and knowledge acquired through many years,
maybe even many lifetimes of walking the path causes curiosity, and unusual
stares and comments among his peers who may not understand the path. Enter
the world of disorder and differences.

Many people although they are
curious or in some way drawn to the path and would like to know more about
the Tao are trapped in their own existence and ego, and without
understanding the self, they can not find the path, but in not finding the
path they walk just the same. While curiosity may breed interest, it does
not necessarily breed understanding or tolerance, and although the movement
towards tolerance and the abolition of prejudice is moving, it moves slowly.
Intolerance breeds fear just as ignorance breeds fear, and especially in the
west, these two companions of destruction run rampant. Too many times in the
history of America have the perceptions of separation, intolerance and
ignorance served to attempt to destroy what the Tao has created. As American
children we are taught, sometimes implicitly, sometimes directly, that
“America is the greatest country on earth”, that White is better, that
different is somehow evil, that other religions, thoughts, ideologies, and
mannerisms are “cultish” or subversive. All of these concepts are based in
fear, born of ignorance and fed by a mentality of intolerance and subtle
prejudice. To walk the way of peace, the path of the Tao, is to defeat this
fear with the silence of wisdom and compassion. To argue or attempt to
persuade is a pointless waste of energy. The sage knows this and therefore
does not choose the fight.

In the thoughts of westerners
often what cannot be seen does not exist. This type of thought pattern
allows entire populations and cultures to be wiped from before their eyes
like so much dust. It allows the sort of rationalization that placed
thousands of Native Americans behind fences on reservations while we
fulfilled our “manifest destiny”. It allowed blacks to be lynched because
they were black. It still allows women to be the object of denigration and
disrespect because they are women. A Taoist sage does not seek these things.
We appear different and unusual in our own country and culture because in
our silence, often mistaken for a failure of resolve, we refuse at any cost
to participate in the mentality of separation and prejudice and intolerance.

We as Taoists walk a path of
Karma, and not punishment, of peace and not fear, of unity and not
separation. Those of us who practice martial sciences are a paradox of
Taoism, we refuse to engage in senseless combat, but train as though the day
of war was imminent. There are very few who understand that to train the
mind and spirit, one must also subdue the body. In this simple paragraph
lies one of the greatest differences, and one that is most difficult to
overcome. In the west, and sadly more often now in the east, the philosophy
of instant gratification, a quick fix, and easy riches is the religion of
the moment. In dojo after dojo (Karate schools) time and again, young
children and unqualified adults are given rank by instructors who take their
money for two years and teach them nothing of how life and the universe
works. In the west with very few exceptions, the real meaning of the
training, to aid in the establishment of enlightenment, has been lost, and
it has been lost to the idol of wealth. The sage knows that to truly master
even one system may take a lifetime, and it is not the technique or the
ability to break things that is important, but the discipline, the knowledge
and the wisdom that are acquired by conditioning the body, mind and spirit
to all move as one. It is harmony and peace and unity with the Tao that we
seek, not the colorful belt on the uniform. As Taoists, we seek the Tao in
terms of lifetimes, not years, and the journey is not measured in distance
traveled, or in distance yet to go, but in the now.

How many there are who would
run to the western physician for drugs, when what needs healing is the
heart. Why does western medicine ignore the mind and spirit and treat the
symptoms of the body? As Taoists, in harmony with nature and with the Tao,
we seek the health and well being not just of our body, of the entire
person, and not just ourselves, but all things, because all things are of
the Tao, so to injure one is to diminish all.

Why is Christianity the only
religion? Why is Jesus the only savior? Where did all of the Taoists and
Buddhists go who lived before Jesus was born? Are they burning in hell right
now? The sage knows no hell and no heaven, only the peace that accompanies
the transformation from life to life in death, the return to the emptiness
that is the Tao.

Imagine what might happen if
everyone on the planet, for one moment in the now could behave with the self
awareness and compassion of the Taoist masters. Would the silence deafen us?

Imagine what might happen if
just once, everyone gave from their heart of their wealth in the way of a
sage. How many might be fed, warmed, comforted.

To be a Taoist is to maybe
one day shed a ray of light on a path for one who cannot see the path. To be
a Taoist is to lift someone up who has fallen, and set them on the path.

To be a Taoist is to walk a
path of solitude, content in your aloneness and happy for companionship when
it comes. It is to be the lotus flower which is surrounded by water and mud
but is never touched by it. It is to be the silent lamp to a world of
darkened souls, a whisper of comfort to those who despair. It is to be one
with the universe, the eternal Tao, and every living thing.